Anyone Else But You
by BlueBoxAngel
Summary: For three years, Paul and Lydia have refused to have anything to do with one another; their hatred for each other interfering with their imprint bond. With the threat of vampires on the horizon, will they finally find a way to get past their differences or will it take something much more drastic to make the two of them realize that they need each other?
1. Chapter 1

**So... New story! I have no idea why I'm doing this since I already have no time to write and a few stories to finish but here you go. Please let me know what you think. Reviews = happiness and with my workload, happiness is needed :) **

**So here you go, my dear reader chums. Enjoy! **

It was the first day of October. The clouds were a dark shade of grey, despite it still being only mid-morning, and they rumbled with the threat of rain. With great reluctance, Paul forced himself to leave the comfort of his bed and head for the bathroom. If he wasn't showered and dressed respectably within the next half an hour, Sam would chew him out for being irresponsible. Not to mention Jacob Black.

Today was the day that Lydia Black turned twenty years old. Paul hated the young woman with a passion but he had no other choice but to attend the party that was being thrown for her birthday. After all, Lydia was his imprint.

The irony of the situation was not lost on him. At just under a year younger than Lydia, Paul had spent his entire life hating her. For as long as he could remember, they had always disliked one another. Paul felt her to be bossy, bitchy and completely annoying. It angered him greatly that he had imprinted on her the very second he had seen her after he first phased. The Gods couldn't have gotten it more wrong, he thought to himself. There was no way in hell he would ever love Lydia Black.

Across the other side of the reservation, Lydia Black closed the last button on her cream coloured shirt and brushed her fingers through her long, midnight black coloured hair. She took one last look in the mirror before shutting the door of her bedroom and making her way downstairs to the living room, where she knew her family would be waiting for her.

* * *

"Where the hell is Paul?" Sam mumbled to Emily.

The entire Pack and their families were situated around Billy Black's home. They had all gathered to celebrate the birthday of his youngest daughter, Lydia, and Paul was over an hour late.

"He'll be here." replied Emily; gifting her fiancé with a reassuring kiss on the cheek.

"Jake's going to kick his ass." Quil added, with an air of glee in his voice.

As much as Quil was Paul's friend, he couldn't resist watching a good wolf fight between Jacob and Paul. The two had never really gotten along and their relationship had only worsened in the years since Jacob had begun dating Bella Swan.

"Shut up, Quil." Jared stated, as he handed a sandwich to his girlfriend, Kim.

"I'm just saying. Jake's pissed."

Just that second, as if by magic, Jacob appeared; his face a picture of thunder,

"Where the hell is Paul?!"

There wasn't a single bit of Jacob that enjoyed the fact that Paul had imprinted on his sister over three years ago. Paul was a well-known man whore and Jacob knew that his sister was way out of Paul's league. The only blessing, it seemed, was that Lydia seemed to know it too. She hated Paul just as much as Jacob did.

"Relax, Black. I'm here."

Paul's voice echoed around the kitchen as he entered. He had gotten distracted flirting with a pretty blonde girl who had asked him for directions. Not that he was going to tell Jacob that.

"You should have been here ages ago."

"Well, I'm here now."

"It's not good enough."

"Oh, stop whining, Black. It's not like I killed your damn cat or something."

"Paul." Sam warned.

The last thing anyone needed was for a fight to break out. Sighing angrily, Jacob forced his body to relax and he ignored the urge to yell even more at Paul for being so inconsiderate.

"Just… go and give Lydia her present,."

"Present?"

"Yes. Her present, Paul."

"Paul, you did get her a present, right?" asked Jared.

With a nonchalant aura, Paul shrugged his broad shoulders.

"For fuck's sake!" yelled Jacob. "It's her birthday! She's your imprint!"

"Hey, I didn't ask for her to be! I didn't even want to be here!"

"Enough!"

Sam's voice boomed out loud and clear and he was certain that guests in the living room would have heard his outburst.

"You two need to stop. Paul, Jake's right. You may not like it but Lydia is your imprint. The least you can do is go and say happy birthday."

"I don't -"

"I. Don't. Care. Go and do it. Now."

With a scowl, Paul balled up his fists and made to storm out of the kitchen and follow his orders, when he was prevented from doing so by the appearance of the birthday girl herself.

"Why is he here?" Lydia stated, referring to the hot-tempered wolf-boy.

Paul was the very last person she wanted to see on her birthday.

"Lee, you're his imprint-" started Jacob.

"But I'm not his bloody wife! Or even his girlfriend for that matter. I don't want him here."

"Fine by me, princess. I don't even want to be here."

"Don't call me 'princess'"

"Whatever. I'm out of here."

Pushing passed Lydia, Paul stormed out of the kitchen and quickly made his made out of the house; ignoring the stares and whispers that followed him. He was shaking with rage and wanted to be as far away from Lydia as possible. Oh, how she infuriated him. He had barely gotten a few feet away from the house before he heard his name being called out.

"Paul!"

"Go away, Princess."

"Stop calling me that!"

"Then stop following me!"

Stomping her feet on the spot, Lydia yelled out into the morning air and began to run after Paul, whose great speed had helped him to further the distance between himself and her home. She reached him in just under a minute and grab him by the back of his black, cotton shirt.

"Paul!"

"What do you want?!"

"I want you to stop being such a dick to me."

"Then stop being a spoilt little bitch then."

"Hey, I didn't want you here today. I'd be quite happy to never set eyes on you again. You seem to think that you're doing me a favour by turning up on my birthday. You're not! All you're doing is ruining it… like you ruin everything else you touch."

For Paul, Lydia's cruel words were the last straw and he felt his fragile grip on his anger finally break. In mere moments, his body had begun to shake with such a violent force that he was almost sure his bones would break. Seeing what was happening right before her eyes, Lydia took a number of steps back. She had seen what had happened to Emily years before when Sam has lost control over his phasing, and had turned far too near to her. The ugly scars were a constant reminder of how dangerous it was to run with The Pack, and Lydia cursed the fact that she had found herself imprinted on by its most volatile member.

The transformation had in the blink of an eye. One second, Paul was a man. The next… a large wolf with fur the same colour of the dark grey sky above their heads, stood towering over Lydia; advancing upon her slowly. The wolf bared its sharp, white teeth and snarled with a deafening volume. Lydia knew that she should be scared by Paul's wolf but her anger at him was drowning out her fear.

She was angry. She was enraged at him of all the time. He had ruined her life by imprinting on her. She could never leave the reservation now. She knew that neither her family, the Elders nor Paul's wolf would allow it. Because of an ancient legend and a magical gene, Lydia was destined to spend the rest of her life tied to a man she did not want… and she resented Paul for that.

"Lydia! Get away from him" she heard Sam shout.

The two were a quite a distance from the house now and she knew that it would take Sam at least a minute to reach them. With every second that passed, Lydia stood her ground. She never wavered as Paul moved ever closer towards her. Not even when his face was just centimetres away from hers did she move. She refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing her run away scared.

"Oh, the big bad wolf is mad."

"Lee!"

Jacob's voice rang out loud and clear and she didn't have to turn around to know that by now, her brother and Sam would be running to protect her.

"Well tough shit. Suck it up, Paulie."

"She's fucking crazy!"

The words reached Lydia's ears. Instantly, she recognised the voices. Embry, Jared and Quil had clearly come out to watch the show. Maybe Quil had a point. Maybe she was crazy. She was taunting a wolf that was more than capable of tearing her to shreds, and treating him as if he was a harmless puppy.

Before she could say anything more, she was surrounded by various member of The Pack. Jacob grabbed her by the arms and started pushing her away from the grey wolf, who was still snarling and digging his giant paws into the green grass.

"What are you doing? Are you insane?!"

"Back off, Jake."

"In what bloody universe do you think you can take on Paul?!"

"Calm down. Paul wouldn't hurt me."

"Lee!"

"Jake!"

Making his way through the small crowd, Sam ordered Embry, Quil and Jared to return to the Black household. By now, he knew, Emily would be worrying. Against their will, the three young men made their way back to the house and left Jacob and Sam to deal with the confrontation between Lydia and Paul.

"Jake, take your sister back home. Now"

Simultaneously, the two siblings began to argue with Sam; with Jacob arguing that he should be the one who got to deal with Paul for threatening Lydia, and Lydia arguing that she wasn't a fragile child that needed to be protected.

"This isn't up for discussion! Go! Now!"

Grumbling, Jacob forcefully pulled his sister away who did not take well to the instruction. Carefully removing his clothes and leaving them in a pile next to time, Sam letter his inner wolf take control of his body and phased within seconds.

_Why did it have to be her?!_ Paul whined.

_Paul, she's your imprint. You can't treat her like that._

Ignoring his leader, Paul continue to dig at the grass with his paws. He needed a release from the fire-like rage inside of him that always seemed to manifest whenever Lydia was around.

_Why her? Anyone else but her.._


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello :) Thank you to those of you who have reviewed, favourited and followed this story. Enjoy your update and please review. Reviews make me happy and make me feel like I'm doing a good job. xxx**

"I couldn't give a damn about Lydia Black." Paul declared adamantly.

Beside him, Jared let out a quiet chuckle and shook his head in disbelief.

"Mate, you can deny it all you want, but you care."

"You're out of your mind if you think I could care about that… that… woman for even a minute."

Slamming close the door to the refrigerator, Paul opened the bottle of beer and quickly consumed it in one go. He tried his best to ignore the smirk that was plastered on his best-friend's face but his anger quickly got the better of him. Smacking Jared across the back of the head, Paul felt a sense of smug self-satisfaction as Jared yelped out in pain.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?"

"Telling lies. Didn't your mother ever tell you it was bad to lie." Paul replied with a smirk.

"Hey, my mother is a good woman. She looks after your ass doesn't she? Besides, it's not a lie."

"Jared, I swear, you had better shut up."

"Ooooh, getting a bit defensive there, Paulie." teased Jared.

Now sitting on the sofa in his tiny, but rather homely, living room, Paul shot his friend a glare as he watched him prance about with glee.

"Paul and Lydia, sitting in a tree…"

"Shut up."

"K - I - S - S - I - N - G…"

"I mean it, Jared."

"First comes love…"

"One more word."

"Second comes m-"

Jumping up, Paul was on Jared in seconds. Grabbing the young man by the collar of his shirt, he dragged his friend towards the door; all the while, Jared continued to chant the rhyme.

"Get out of my house."

"No need to be so mean, Paul." laughed Jared.

Throwing Jared through the door, Paul looked on as he tumbled to the ground but continued to smile and laugh. Jared carried on grinning even as Paul slammed the door on him and disappeared from sight. From behind him, Jared heard a voice call out to him and he rose from the ground; dusting off the dirt from his jeans.

"What was that about?" Embry quizzed.

With a light chuckle, Jared turned to face his fellow Pack member.

"Lydia."

"Jesus, those two hate each other."

"Nah…" replied Jared, greeting Embry with a playful punch to the arm.

"Are you blind? I thought Paul was going to kill her yesterday."

"He doesn't hate her. He just thinks he does."

Shaking his head furiously, Embry began to walk away; forcing Jared to go after him.

"What?" asked Jared.

"You're bloody deluded if you think Lydia and Paul don't hate each other. I've lost count of how many fights they've had."

"Think about it, Embry. If Paul really hated her, he wouldn't have thought twice about hurting her yesterday. He wouldn't have even gone to her party in the first place."

"One, Sam ordered him to go and two, that was Paul's wolf. Not Paul. His wolf wouldn't hurt his imprint. Paul, on the other hand…"

"Since when has Paul ever done anything Sam tells him to?" Jared pointed out; feeling slightly satisfied when he realised that Embry saw that he had made a valid point.

For a second, Embry stopped walking. He contemplated Jared's words but quickly dismissed them. He had known Paul and Lydia far too long and he would bet his life that the two of them would never end up together. The Gods had clearly screwed up choosing to make Lydia Paul's imprint.

"It doesn't matter. You're still wrong. Those two will kill each other first before they ever care for the other."

"Don't count on it, Embry. I have a feeling things will change." replied Jared with a grin.

* * *

"Please! It'll be fun!"

"No."

"Oh, come on! Pretty please!"

"It's still a 'no."

"Lydia, please." whined Kim.

Rubbing her temples, Lydia tried desperately to ignore Kim's pleas as she incessantly begged her to join in with her plans to go down to First Beach. The last thing she wanted was to have another encounter with Paul. They had managed to avoid one another for two weeks following their last meeting, but Lydia did not revel in the idea of seeing him again any time soon.

"Kim-"

"Please! It won't be the same if you don't come. I'll be there, and Emily and Bella. All the boys will be there and -"

"Exactly. All the boys will be there. Meaning Paul will be there and I would rather tear out my own eyes than spend time with him."

Sighing, Kim began to give up hope. She struggled to understand how Paul and Lydia could despise each other so much when they were made for one another. Being an imprint herself, Kim couldn't imagine ever hating Jared or being separated from him. So, it puzzled her greatly how Paul and Lydia managed to be apart from one another each and every day and feel no suffering.

"You won't have to spend time with him. You won't even have to speak to him. I promise. Just come down to the beach. We're going to go cliff diving and you know how much you love cliff diving."

A small smile finally appeared on Lydia's face and a similar one appeared on Kim's. The promise of cliff diving, Kim knew, would lure Lydia out of her house and down to the beach with her friends.

"Fine." Lydia relented, still smiling. "But you so owe for me this."

It was already mid afternoon when, half an hour later, with her bikini hidden safely under the cover of her jeans and leopard print jumper, Lydia found herself walking down First Beach with Kim and towards her friends. Sat around on a large tartan blanket, Emily and Bella were deep in conversation, whilst Sam, Embry, Jared, Jacob and Quil were to one side throwing a football around.

With a sigh of relief, Lydia started to relax when she noticed that Paul was no-where to be seen and with great excitement, she plonked herself down next to Bella whilst Kim took a seat next to Emily.

"Where's Leah and Seth?" Lydia asked Emily.

"Sam's got them on patrol."

Ignoring the cold from the sudden gust of wind, Lydia brushed the sand from her legs and watched on at the boys as they continued to play football; laughing when her brother tackled Quil to the ground who proceeded to whine like a small child.

"He cheated!"

"Suck it up, Quil." Sam laughed.

Laughing away, Lydia continued to watch the game unfold until a comment from the girls sat next to her caught her attention.

"How are things with Jake?" Kim asked Bella.

"They're good." she answered back, smiling.

At twenty-one years old, Bella was two years older than Jacob. They had been friends for a number of years, ever since Bella had moved back to Forks to live with her father, and Jacob had been infatuated with her ever since. Although it had taken them some time to get together, due to Bella's romance with a vampire that ended rather swiftly, the two had become inseparable since they had begun dating two years before.

Their romance had caused quite a stir among some of the residents of Forks and La Push, due to the fact that Jacob was only seventeen when the two had become a couple. But to those who knew them well, the small age difference was of no matter. Jacob and Bella were happy together.

"You two should be married by now." joked Emily.

Noticing the way Bella's face paled, Emily felt worry and guilt fill her up. Had she somehow caused some offence without realising it?

"Bella, are you alright?" questioned Kim.

"Yeah. I'm fine. It's just… I really love Jake but…"

"But what?"

"What if… he imprints on someone else?"

Placing an arm around Bella, Emily gave the young woman what she hoped was a comforting hug.

"Oh, sweetie. Jake is crazy about you."

"Sam was in love with Leah before he imprinted on you."

In that moment, Emily lost all words. Bella's tone was not malicious. It was just a fact. Sam had indeed been in love with Leah before Emily had arrived and he had imprinted on her. It had turned Leah into a bitter woman who kept almost everyone at arms length, and it was Emily's biggest regret that she had hurt her cousin due to love.

"I'm sorry." Bella mumbled.

"No, you're right. Sam did love Leah. But imprinting is rare. Only Sam and Jared have imprinted… and -"

"Paul." Lydia stated; finishing Emily's sentence for her. "Don't worry, Bella, imprinting isn't all it's cracked up to be. You're lucky. You can leave whenever you want."

The three girls stared at Lydia with almost dumbfounded expressions on their faces. It was no secret that Lydia would give anything not to be imprinted on. She had made it extremely clear from the day the Elders had revealed everything to her three years before.

"You know, imprinting isn't a bad thing. Look at me and Jared. I would be lost without him. He's so sweet and caring and -"

"Well, congratulations to you. You got a wolf who actually cares about you. I got imprinted on by a bad tempered man-whore who would gladly push me off a bridge if it meant he could get away with it."

"Paul's not that bad." argued Kim.

With one look, Lydia shot down Kim's defending arguments. Lydia hated the way she acted every time Paul's name was mentioned. It turned her into a person consumed by anger and bitterness. Deep down, she knew that Paul had, had absolutely no control over imprinting on her but she needed someone to blame. Paul had been the obvious choice. There was no-one else she could blame.

"Speak of the devil." Lydia mumbled under her breath when she noticed Paul walking down the beach and towards the other Pack members.

She watched as he happily greeted the others and joined in on their game of football. As the minutes ticked by, and Bella, Kim and Emily went back to their discussions, Lydia found herself unable to tear her eyes away from Paul.

He was rude, bad-mannered, had a temper that blew that like violate dynamite and had more arrogance than was needed, but Lydia couldn't deny that he was a beautiful specimen of a man. His skin, the same tanned colour as hers, always seemed to blaze and stretch under his impressive muscles. At six foot, five inches, he had the presence of a large building but it was his face that Lydia admired the most. Strong jaw muscles, hazel brown eyes and cropped black hair. He was beautiful… but he was also a jerk.

She figured that, that's what made her hate him even more. She despised how rough, rude and uncaring he was around her and she hated how she would sometimes catch herself wishing she could touch him; just to see how he would feel.

"Yo, Lydia! There's no need to stare. I already know how drop-dead gorgeous I am." Quil shouted, snapping Lydia from her private thoughts.

Staring at her, Quil winked playfully and laughed when he saw Lydia blush lightly and roll her eyes at him. Although he held no romantic feelings or desires towards Lydia, he enjoyed teasing the young woman.

"In your dreams, Quil." retorted Lydia with a laugh.

"Always, babe."

Turning his attention back to the other boys, Quil acted with fake ignorance when he saw Jacob glaring at him.

"What?"

"Stop flirting with my sister."

"I can't help it if I'm so damn hot she can't keep her eyes off me." he joked. "I'm just a babe magnet."

Ignoring the annoyance that was building up inside of him, Jake threw the football he was holding in his hands to Jared who caught it easily.

"Yeah, that's why you're still single, isn't it." quipped Embry.

"Low blow."

"Just telling the truth, mate."

Throwing the football over in Sam's direction, Jared couldn't help but add to the conversation. He had noticed Lydia watching them; or more specifically, watching Paul. It only served to add to his suspicions that underneath their tough, hateful exteriors and words, Lydia and Paul were indeed feeling the imprint pull.

"She wasn't staring at you. She was staring at Paul."

"Knock it off, Jared."

"You know I'm right."

"Jay, I'm warning you."

"Knock it off, the both of you." Sam stated firmly, knowing how prone Paul was to turning angry quickly.

Declaring the game to be over, Sam ordered everyone to disband. The guys headed straight for the four guys, with Jared placing a light kiss on Kim's lips and Jacob pulling Bella up and into a hug. The wind had started to pick up and Sam announced that cliff diving would take place immediately, before the weather turned nasty and would prevent them from doing so.

Stripping down, each girl was soon down to their swimsuits and each guy remained only in their denim cut-offs. Lydia quickly began to shiver from the cold, blustery wind but ignored it as she followed the others towards the cliffs.

In front of her, she could see Jared with his arm around Kim's shoulders and laughing quietly as they spoke to one another. Sam and Jacob led the Pack followed by Quil and Embry who were playfully shoving each other. She could hear Emily and Bella chatting away to one another, somewhere behind her, as they discussed their upcoming Halloween plans. It took her a minute to realise that she had no idea where Paul was.

Her time to ponder upon this, however, was cut short when her foot caught the edge of a loose rock. Losing her balance, the ground came ever closer into view as she started to fall forwards. She braced herself for the pain that would come from the impact.

It happened within the blink of eye. One second, Lydia was in front of him, following the rest of the group and the next, she was tumbling and heading straight for the hard, rocky ground. His brain told him that he wanted her to fall. He would enjoy seeing her getting a little hurt after all the trouble she caused him. He had no intention of saving her.

_**Save her!**_

Letting his wolf instincts take over, Paul reached out with both hands and caught Lydia before she fell completely. His arms wrapped themselves around her waist and pulled her straight back up so her back was pressed tightly against his chest. Her head barely reached the upper part of his chest and she felt thin and fragile in his arms.

Shocked that Paul had actively saved her from getting hurt, Lydia let Paul continue to hold on to her for a few seconds longer than was necessary. The supernatural heat from his body burned her skin and protected her from the October wind.

_**Our imprint. **_

Letting go of Lydia, Paul stalked off away from her and quickly caught up to Quil and Embry. It took only a a small number of minutes for the group to eventually reach their destination. They stopped half way up the cliff; choosing to jump from a lower edge due to the presence of the girls who were not as strong or able swimmers as the Pack members.

"I call dibs on jumping first!" Quil yelled as he ran forward and made a dive off the cliff.

His yelp of joy could be heard clearly until a loud splash indicated that he had hit the water. Following suit, Sam gently grabbed a hold of Emily and the two ran over the edge. Copying the couple, Jacob and Bella clasped hands and grinned lovingly at each other as they made their jump.

"Are you ready, baby?" Jared directed towards Kim, lifting her up into his arms.

"Go for it."

Paul did not miss the wink Jared sent his way or the smirk that was plastered on his face, and he made a mental note to beat his best-friend's ass the first got he got. He resented Jared's ridiculous notion that he cared for Lydia. Yes, he had saved her from falling but that had been his wolf. His wolf recognised Lydia as his imprint. Not Paul.

Surging ahead, Paul felt the ground leave his feet and he fell through the air at a great speed. The world around him rushed by and the surge of adrenaline through his body made him feel roar and alive.

"Want a hand?" Embry asked Lydia, offering her his hand.

Nodding gratefully, Lydia took Embry's hand in hers and the two beamed with excitement as they launched themselves from the cliff ledge and into the open air. The crash into the water was hard and the iciness of the water shocked Lydia's body to the core. She felt Embry's warm hand leave hers and saw him swim ahead through the water.

Making to go after him and join the others on the beach, Lydia kicked out with her legs and began to swim when a giant wave hit her and pulled her back under.

"That was so much fun!" Bella half-screamed; standing in Jacob's arms to keep herself warm.

"I'll never get bored of that." laughed Sam.

The group stood together, laughing and joking, drying off as best they could. It was two minutes before Paul started to feel that something wasn't quite right. There was a nagging sensation in the pit of his stomach; a suspicion that something had gone awry. Looking around, he scouted the faces of the group members.

"Where's Lydia?" he asked.

"What?" one of the voices replied.

"Lydia. Where is she?"

A flame of panic quickly set in among the group.

"Embry! You jumped with her. Where is she?" Jacob yelled.

"I- I don't know. We jumped and she was with me when I hit the water."

"Then what?!"

"Then - I- I let go of her hand. I thought she was right behind me."

It was as if an explosion had gone off. Suddenly, his body was bursting with a level of adrenaline and panic he had never experienced before in his life. His legs carried him down the wet, sandy beach and towards the edge of the water. One over-riding thought compelled him further and further.

_**Save her!**_his wolf whined. _**Save her! Faster! She could be dead!**_

Throwing himself into the icy cold, grey water, Paul fought with great effort against the waves that kept crashing down on him without any mercy. He was covered neck deep in sea water when he saw her; her body struggling to stay above water. It took him less than a minute to reach and the second he did, he pulled her tight against him and turned back round. Meeting him half way, Paul was welcomed by a frantic Jacob who had swum out to help rescue his sister.

"Paul!"

Paul did not respond. He just kept on swimming, past Jacob, and heading for dry land. The very instant he was able to walk instead of swim, he lifted Lydia into his arms.

"Jesus Christ! Is she okay?!" Emily asked with tear-filled eyes.

"I am so sorry. I thought she'd be fine. She's always been fine before." cried Embry, stuttering over his words as worry consumed him.

Laying Lydia down on the sand, Paul placed his ear near to her mouth in the hope that he would be able to hear her breathing. Inside of his head, he could hear his wolf screaming; hoping and pleading for Lydia to still be living.

To his great relief, he heard a breath escape Lydia's open mouth. He observed her chest carefully as it rose and fell at a slow, steady pace. Lifting her head onto his knees, Paul gently shook her. A small trickle of water escaped from the corner of her mouth and a loud cough followed.

"Lee!" Jacob shouted as he finally exited the water and skidded down onto the sand next to his sister.

Attempting to pull her away from Paul so that he could check for himself that she was safe and unharmed, Jacob was met with a growl from Paul that startled both himself and Paul. Surprised by the unnatural reaction from Paul, Sam took a step forward and took charge of the situation.

"Jake, take her home. Make sure she sees a doctor. Embry and Quil, go take over Patrols. Jared, take Kim and Bella back to the house with Emily."

Going their separate ways, Sam waited until everyone was out of ear shot before addressing Paul who was still kneeling in the same spot.

"Are you okay?"

"It was my wolf. I didn't have any control."

"She's your imprint." Sam stated simply.

"He knew she wasn't there. He knew she was in trouble. The second I saw her there… he took over."

"Paul, it's okay. I know Lydia isn't your favourite person but your wolf needs to protect her."

"She infuriates me."

"I know."

"Will it always be like this?"

"I don't know, Paul. I really don't."


End file.
